Do you know why you say it?

by Ron Kaiser

Want to go to a shindig but have to keep your nose to the grindstone? Some sayings so outlive their original references that using them is likely to trigger a deer in the headlights look. But at one time, most sayings referred to familiar objects or actions. The sources of some commonly used phrases may surprise you:

Dirt poor, contrary to having to do with agricultural practices or misfortune, simply refers to families who didn’t have the means to have a wooden floor in their homes. Hard-packed clay served well and was covered with “thresh” straw. These leftover stalks from harvested grain made for a cleaner floor.

A board or log was often put in doorways to hold in the thresh. This gave rise to the term threshold.

After the Civil War, lap dogs were all the rage among wives of wealthy land speculators and railroad builders. Members of the newly rich often lacked culture and spent large sums on pets. Pampered poodles became linked with the desire for show, so a person making a flashy display was ridiculed as putting on the dog.

Whether we used the term or not, we’ve all experienced something going haywire. Early hay presses progressed to balers, and demand for baled hay brought improvements that created bundles so firm they could be tied with wire. However, the stiff wire easily became tangled in machinery. It could wind around horses’ legs or snag workmen’s  clothing. When cut, this wire snapped outward with enough force to cause injury. As a result, when a situation spiraled out of control it went haywire.

Keeping your nose to the grindstone may sound as if it means being diligent at work, but it actually means to pay close attention. Photo source: Patheos.

Keeping your nose to the grindstone may sound as if it means being diligent at work, but it actually means to pay close attention. If millstones ran too close or too fast, grain would overheat and omit an odor that ruined the flour. Worse, the stones could create a spark and cause mill dust to explode–more dangerous even than gasoline.

Naturally, the skilled person responsible for maintaining and operating the mill properly was the millwright.

A shindig is obviously a dance. Here inexperienced and over-enthusiastic participants inflicted bruised shins on unsuspecting dance partners.